Hose coupling



' 1,593,605 J. s. SHI-:AFE i HOSE COUPLING July 27 1926.

Filed Jan. 26, 1925 Patented July 27, 1,926. `solaires stares 1,593,605 earner ortica.

j JAMES S. SI-IEAFIE.,` OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS.

y HOSE COUPLING.

Application filed January This invention relates to the hose coupling employed for securing together the air brake and signal pipe hose oi railway trains and has for its object the provision of an improved coupling which shall be free 'from corrosion or leakage. A further and important object of the invention is the provision of a new procedure for reclaiming and repairing couplings which have become so worn and'corroded in practice asv to no longer to give proper service; while further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this application Ihave shown wherein Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through an air hose coupling containing my improvements; Fig. 2 is a similar View through -a worn out coupling not containing my improvements; Fig. 3 illustrates the steps of applying or reclaiming such a coupling and Fig. Ll is a. detail view showing a slightly modiiied shape of seat ring.

These couplings consist of malleable iron heads 1 having longitudinal passageways 2 therethrough terminating in ports 3 turned laterally of the general direction of the passageway and held in coupled relation with an adjacent head by means of a pair of complementary flanges 4t and 5 projecting lengthwise of the head engaging the similar flanges of a companion head, one flange, Il,

being located at the end of the head and the other, 5, at the side,` both being concentric with the port 3. Such couplings, when new, are built around an established base line iet-B, indicated in Fig. 2, with its dimensions a, b figured from this base line, the dimension a ordinarily being 19/32 of an inch and dimension Z2 23/32 of an inch. The

' interior of the port 3 is also formed with a groove 3a adapted for the receptionV of the base flange 6 of a soft rubber washer 7 adapted to engage a similar washer carried by the mating coupling and prevent leakage of air. As a result of rusting and wear the dimension a gradually decreases, the dimension gradually increases, and the groove 3fL becomes slowly larger in diameter so that where its inner wall was originally spaced `from the line A-B a Xed distance c, this dimension gradually increases and allows the washer to recede from the opposite coupling as well as permitting escape of r air around the flange 6. Leakage of air from train lines is a very serious and eX- 26, 1925.. Serial No. 4,757.

pensive occurence in that it renders the braking operation very uncertain and 1neffective, particularly at the end oi a longy freight train. Asy a result the railroads of the United States are obliged to replace many hundreds of thousands of such couplings annually due merely to variations in dimensions a, b, and c added to undue corro,- sion of the groove 3a, the couplings being entirely sound in all other respects.

In order to reclaim such a discarded coupling I re-establish a new base line A-B as indicated in Fig. 3, this new line Vbeing located above the original line 1 -B. To accomplish this I first remove from the face of the coupling the portions offmetal indicated by the dotted lines at 8, and counterbore the mouth-of the port as shown at- 9, leaving only `a narrow rib 10 of the malleable metal immediately surrounding this counterbore. In this counterbore I then introduce a non-corrodible bushing 11. The base of this bushing is flat and annular to rest on the bottom of they counterbore, and its side wall is preferably cylindrical` as shown at 12 to fitthe side wall of the counterbore but its thickness at the center' is substantially greater than the height of the side wall. Its outer face slants from the center to the edges, either in two steps 13 and 14 as shownin Figs. 1 and 3 or in a single bevel as shown at 13a in Fig. 4. At its outer edge this slanting portion meets the side wall of the counterbore below the top of thel rib 10. After the bushing has been located in this counterbore the rib 10 is rolled over so as to overlap this slanting portion as indicated at 18 in Fig. 1. This can be done in any one of many modes, even by hand if desired, although in practice I ordinarily employ a couple of small hardened steel rollers 20-20 as shown in Fig. l, mounted transversely of a rotatable shank 21 which is operated by a machine much like a drill press. Preferably, when the bushing is formed with a flattened portion 15 as shown in Fig. 1 this portion is arranged to lie flush with the mating face of the coupling so as to facilitate the rolling operation. I-Iowever, it is entirely possible to omit this portion as shown in Fig. l and allow the bushing to project directly from the coupling face.

This bushing is so chosen as to project from ythe face of the coupling atleast as far as the original base line A-B and preferably a short distance further, thus enabling the establishment of a new base line A-B. By suitable machinery operations, well known to those skilled in the art, for example those used in making new couplings, the face of the ring is cut away, a groove is formed therein for the flanges 4 and 5 recut at the points 4a. and 5a to correspond with this new base line. It is generally best to do all these things at one time and with a single setting, but I do not limit myself thereto, for the ring can be formed in advance to exactly the right length, the groove can vvbe formed in advance, and the cuts 4a and 5a can be made independently and many other detail changes made.

A coupling prepared as heretofore described is superior in all respects to a new all iron coupling. The bushing ll being of non-corrodible metal, there is no possibility for the gasketgroove tobec'ome corroded so as to permit leakage of the air or loss of the gasket. Owing to they permanent and unyielding mannerlin which the bushing is secured to the coupling head, leakage or loss is impossible, even under the hard usage to which devices of this nature are subjected.

lIt will be understood .that Ido not limit my invention 'to employment in connection with reclaiming old couplings nor in any respect of' shape, design, or minor details exceptl as specically 'recited in the claims hereto annexed. i V

Having thus described my invention what I claimviszl. The method of reclaiming. discarded air hose couplings of the type wherein a malleable iron head is formed with flanges adapted to engage the complementary flanges of a mating head'to hold .the parts together, said flanges projecting approximately parallel with the longitudinal axis of the coupling and said head having a passageway therethrough whose mouth is arranged perpendicular to such longitudinal axis, said method containing the steps of forming the mouth of said passageway with a counterbore, removing sullicient metal from the mating face of said coupling member to define a narrow integral annular fiange adjacent to said counterbore, introducing into said counterbore a bushing which is chamf'ered adjacent to said flange and also has a part of its body extending beyond the plane of said flange, upsetting said flange into engaging relation with said chamfered portion, and recutting thesecuring flanges to correspond to the new base line defined by the projecting end of said bushing.

2. The method of reclaiming discarded air hose couplings ot' the type wherein amalleable iron head is formed with flanges adapted to engage the complementary flanges of a mating head to hold the parts together, said flanges projecting approximately parallel with the longitudinal axis of the coupling and said head having a passageway therethrough whose mouth is arranged perpendicular to such longitudinal axis, said method comprising the steps of counterboring said mouth, securing permanently therein a metallic bushing which projects beyond the coupling face, facing said bushing to define a new' base line, redressing the first mentioned flanges to correspond with said base lin-c, and forming the interior of saiLL bushing with a grooved spaced a predetermined distance from the said base line and adapted to receive .a rubber gasket.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

JALIES S. SHEAF'E 

